Strip celebrities scheduled to appear at benefit concert

Friday, May 11, 2001 | 9:26 a.m.

"Springfest III," an all-star benefit to raise funds for a charter school for the deaf, will be held Saturday at an amphitheater on the campus of Faith Lutheran High School in Summerlin.

Among 14 entertainers scheduled to appear at the outdoor music festival are several Strip performers including Clint Holmes, singer-impressionist Bill Acosta, the Scintas, Earl Turner, Sonny King, Grammy Award-winner Paige O'Hara and Sonny Turner of the Platters.

Mel Carter, noted for his song "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," is the honorary chairman of the event.

Russ Fons, organizer of the benefit, said Peter Breck, who played Nick on the 1960s television series "Big Valley," will sing songs from his latest country CD, "Just Kickin' Back with Peter Breck."

"Peter is getting ready to come out with a couple of new movies he has written. He also has two acting schools, one in Vancouver (Canada), where he lives, and one in Washington," Fons said.

Also slated to attend is Scott Shepherd, a Las Vegas resident who recently was selected by Golden Books to be the official Lone Ranger. (Golden Books owns the rights to the character.)

"He will do a five-minute presentation on the Lone Ranger's values and also sign autographs and talk to children," Fons said.

The concert will be at Faith Lutheran, on South Hualapai Way, south of Charleston Boulevard. Fons suggested people bring blankets and picnic baskets. Food and beverages will also be sold.

Laurie Griggs, secretary of the board of directors for the Las Vegas Charter School for the Deaf, said $400,000 is needed or the school won't be able to open as scheduled on Aug. 30.

"It would delay our opening by at least a year," she said.

School officials are working on a contract for the use of a building on East Oakey Boulevard.

"The building is being donated to us for a year or longer, but we are responsible for maintenance," Griggs said.

She said the school, which will have classes for students in kindergarten through Grade 5, will open with 25 to 35 students.

Money raised by this and future benefits will be used to hire teachers and an administrative staff and to make repairs to the building.

The effort to create a school for the deaf began more than two years ago when a group of parents of children with hearing disabilities became concerned about the quality of education for the deaf in the public school system.

Maureen Parente, one of the founders of the school and chairwoman of its board of directors, noted that Nevada and New Hampshire are the only states that don't have schools specifically for hearing-impaired students.

Parente has an 11-year-old grandson who is hearing impaired. She and the other parents want to provide an alternative to the public school, which often places those with hearing problems in classrooms with hearing students, which results in those with hearing problems lagging behind their peers.